Railway track



1. LE R. COSBY.

RAILWAY TRACK.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4. 1922.

1,415,802, Patented May 9, 1922.

INVENTOR A TTORNEYS UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

I JAMES ROY COSBY, OF ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO.

RAILWAY TRAOK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 9*, 1922.

Application filed February 4, 1922. Serial No. 534,115.

, constructed of a single piece of metal and which is so organized withthe rail as to obviate the necessity of bolts, spikes, screws, wedges,or similar fastening devices, and yet at thesame time positively supportand engage the rails in such manner as to absolutely preclude anypossibility of the rails spreading or creeping.

Another object is to provide a tie of this character whichwhile being oflight weight construction, is at the same time susceptible of beingfirmly or strongly ballasted or anchored.

v A further object is to rovide a metallic tie of this character whicpossesses within certain limitsa capacit for flexion, the tie bein suchthat after a llmited degree of fiexion has been partaken of to relievethe tie structure of destructive stresses the parts will come intobracing and positive engage-- ment in such a manner as to constitute abeam or supporting element of great strength and rigidity.

Another object is to provide a tie of this character wherein rovision ismade for ,draining so as to re uce the liability of the tie corroding ordeteriorating.

ther objects and advantages of the in vention reside in certain novelfeatures of construction, combination and arrangement of partswhich willbe hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in theappended claims, reference being had to the accompan ing drawingsforming part of this speci cation, and in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view, illustrating a portion of a railwaytrack embodying the tie constituting the present invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view, illustrating one mode in which the tieconstituting the present invention maybe constructed;

Figure 3 is a fra mentar lan vi the complete tie, the rail beiiigremovgd of F gure 4 1s a view in transverse vertical sect on on line 4-4of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a similar view on line 5'-5 of F1 uref3.

eferring to the drawings wherein for the sake of illustration isshownthe preferred embodiment of the invention, the numeral 10 designatesgenerally the ties which when organized in a track in spaced versely at11. The ties which constitute the present invention are preferablyconstructed enti trely of metal and have generally the form 0. cordinglycom risin a base 12 and u ri side flanges 13 and 14. p ght Inmanufacturing the tie it may be con structed from blanks, as indicatedin Figure 2, and when so constructed the resilient metal whichcomposesit is preferabl bent on longitudinal lines a and b to provi eside flanges 13 and 14. The side flanges 13 and 14 include enlarged lgand 14, the enlarged portionsbeing provided at the center of the tie andextending outwardly from the blankand upwardly in the complete tie.Between the enlarged portlons 13* and 14 of the flanges and thecontiguous portions of the base section 12 slots, designated at 15 and16, are out or are arranged as usual parallel relationand extendtransotherwise formed, and these slots define a reduced and flexibleportion, designated at 12, in the base 12. When the tie is formed,'theportions 13 and 14 of the side flanges are bent inwardly, as shown inFigures 1, 3 and 5 and theportion 12 of the base is bent upwardly,asshown in Figures 1 and 5, so that the lower edges of the inwardlycurved portions 13 and 14 lie immediatelyabove and slightly spaced fromthe upwardly curved portion 12 of the base. The portions 12, 13 and 14are possessed of a capacity of limited fleXion and after they have beenflexed to their limitthey come into positive and bracing engagement witheach other, in such manner that the tie constitutes a beam of greatrigidity and strength.

Adjacent the ends of the tie apair of lugs, designated at 17, areprovided, the members of each pair being alined and being formed andbeneath the rails, designated a channel in cross section, each tieacportions, designated at I abutments, designated at 18, which preventlateral displacement of the tie plates and which also engage thebases ofthe rails 11 to prevent spreading of the rails, as shown to advantage inFig. 1. The tie plates 20 have'intermediate their ends lips 21preferably formed integral with the tie plate, the

lips being struck from, the resilient metal which constitutes the tieplate. In the rail- "way track the lips 21 are arranged in notchesformedin'the base of the rails.

notches 11 formed in the base of the rails 11 and the ends of the lipsare bent, as at 21 to overlie thebase of the rails and to engage the tosurfaces oi the same. In this manner the lips 21 constitute clamps forpreventing vertical displacement of the rails and also preventcreepingof the rails or longitudinal movement thereof, this latter acnon beingby virtue of its disposition in ltpe 1e shouldersor abutments 18 formedon the flanges" 13 and 1 1 serve to prevent spreading or lateralmovement of the rails, and thus the forces which tend to spread therails do not actupon the lips 21 butare taken up by these shoulders 18.

VVhen the ends of a tie are subjected to downward pressure,as forinstance when a I train passes over the track, the base section 12 issubjected tofcompression and the flanges 13 and 1d are under tension.These forces however do not tend to distort the t1e, as und er theaction of compression the upwardly curved portion 12 of the base sectionflexes upwardly and under tension the inwardly curved portions 13 and 14of the flanges flex'outwardly. Ifthe pressures to which the tie issubjected are of avery high degree the flexion of these curved portions12,

13 andl l continues until the lower edges of the portions 13 and 14:come into engagement'with the top of the curved portion 12 Thisengagement of these portions exerts a bracing action as between thesecurved portions and by virtue of this engagement the tie constitutes abeam of great rigidity and strength'when such properties are necessary,the tieat thesame time having such resiliency or capacity for flexion asto enable it to-take u'p. all ordinary stresses or strains withoutdanger of distortion and without injury to the elements which comprisethe tie.

It is obvious that the tie may if desired ,be entirely constructed of asingle piece of metal. If the tie is constructed of a single piece-of.metal the lugs 17 are omitted and thetieplates 20 are integrally formedwith one of the flanges as for instance the flange 13 and are then bentover until their free ends rest upon the flange 14, the flanges 13 and14: being notched at the tie plates to provide the shoulders 18 forengaging the rail as in theconstruction illustrated. It is understood ofcourse that in both forms of the invention the tie plates are welded orsuitably secured to the flanges.

I claim:

1. A railway tie constructed entirely of metal and comprising a channelincluding a base section and side flanges, the side flanges havingenlarged portions adjacent the center of the tie, the tie having slotsformed between said enlarged portions of the side flanges and thecontiguous portion of the base, the slots forming a reduced portion inthe base and the reduced portion being curved upwardly, the enlargedportions of the side flanges being curvedinwardly so as to lieimmediately above and slightly spaced "from said upwardly curved portionof the base, the tie having adjacent its ends means adapted to supportand engage the rails whereby when the tie is subjec'ted to pressure theupwardly curved portion of the base will flex upwardly and the inwardlycurved portions of the side flanges will flex outwardly, the inwardlycurved portions being adapted to come into positive and bracingengagement with the upwardly curved portion when the pressures to whichthe tie is subjected are of a high degree.

2. A. railway tie constructed entirely of metal and comprising a channelhaving a base section and side flanges, the base section and the sideflanges having flexing portions adapted to come into bracing andpositive engagement after having partaken of a certain degree offlexion, said side flanges having means for engaging and supportingrails.

3. A. railway tie constructed entirely of metal and comprising a channelhaving a base section and side flanges, the base section and the sideflanges having flexing portions adapted to come into bracing andpositive engagement after having partaken of a certain degree offlexion.

1-. A railway tie comprising a channel including a base section and sideflanges, the base section and side flanges having flexion portionsadjacent the center of the tie adapted to come into positive and bracingengagement after having partaken of a certain degree of flexion, theside flanges adjacent the ends of the tie being notched to provideshoulders adapted to engage the rails to prevent spreading, tie platessupported upon the side flanges and extending between the notchedvportions thereof and rail engaging means carried by said tie'plates.

5. In combination with the rail having notches in its base, a tiecomprising a channel Including a base section and side flanges, the sideflanges having notches therein defining shoulders engageable with thebase 01 the rail for preventing spreading movement thereof, a tie platecarried by the side flanges and. extending between the notches of saidside flanges and lips struck from the tie plate and adapted to beextended through the notches of the bases of the rail and to be engagedwith the top surfaces of the bases of the rail to prevent creeping andvertical displacement of said rails.

6. A railway tie constructed of resilient metal and comprising a channelincluding a base section and side flanges, the side flanges havingenlarged portions adjacent the center of the tie, the railway tie havingslots between the side portions of the flanges and the contiguousportion of the base section, the slots defining a reduced portion insaid base section, the reduced portion of said base section beingupwardly curved and the order ed portions of the side flanges beinginwar y curved so as to lie above and slightly spaced from the upwardlycurved portion of the base section.

7. In combination with a rail, a railway tie constructed of resilientmetal and comprising a channel including a base section and sideflanges, the base section and side flanges being provided with flexinportions adjacent the center of the tie adapted to come into positiveand bracing engagement after having partaken of a certain degree offlexion, said side flanges being provided with notches adjacent the endsthereof, the notches presenting shoulders adjacent the rails forpreventing spreading tiereof, tie plates extending between the sideflanges and extending between the notched portions thereof and railengaging means carried by said side flanges.

JAMES LEROY COSBY.

